Ilocano Idealism, Chooks-to-Go Compassion – Ways To Go, Filipino!
Ronald Mascariñas, as a Filipino you make me cry happily;
Teófilo Yldefonso, as an Ilocano, you make me proud doubly!
Thursday,
02 September 2021, this was the title of Chooks-To-Go President Ronaldo Mascariñas’ Facebook sharing[1]: “Chooks-To-Go
Honors PH First Olympic Medalist And War Hero Teófilo Yldefonso By Giving Back
To Kin.” The 726-word tribute happily & proudly relates of Teófilo
Yldefonso’s (TY’s) Olympic records (plural), and World War 2 selfless heroism. Thus, Mr Mascariñas
says of TY:
Chooks-to-Go is posthumously honoring the first
Filipino Olympic medalist and war hero, Teófilo Yldefonso, with a perpetual supply of 100 oven-roasted chickens every month. The
grant, to continue for as long as the business is alive, shall be given to his
great-great-grandson, Raul Yldefonso,
the designated representative of his surviving heirs.
Double
Wow:
TY's exploits were unprecedented;
Mr Mascariñas’ tribute-gift is unparalleled!
(And yes, Chooks-to-Go chickens are unequalled, not only in
their roasted goodness, but most especially because they are raised without
antibiotics or growth hormones; they are organic, unlike others.)
Though the memory of
Yldefonso continues to live on in history books, his legacy does not have the
same recall as modern-day sports heroes.
Yldefonso was the
country's first-ever Olympic medalist, winning bronze in the 200m breaststroke
event of the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam. He repeated the feat four years
later in Los Angeles as he became known as the "Ilocano Shark" and
"The Father of the Modern Breaststroke."
He was the Philippines’ first-ever Olympic medal winner, 1928.
And he was a soldier.
During World War 2, he and his men under the 5th
Infantry Regiment of the Philippine Scouts of the US Army, were captured in Bataan
by a Japanese army group, whose leader was Reizo
Koike, who earlier in the 1936 Olympics became his friend. Now his
friend was advising him to escape, leave his men behind, but he said “No.” He
died in the Japanese concentration camp; he was 38.
TY’s
hometown Piddig, Ilocos Norte, did honor him with a bust standing on top of a
hill; today, only a marker remains.
Up until this day, Raul and the Yldefonso clan
are still fighting to keep the memories of their great-great-grandfather alive
so that the next generations will remember his heroism.
Raul hopes (the) Chooks-to-Go’s initiative to
honor Teófilo will generate support for this cause.
I say that TY’s was double heroism, one in
international sports, and the other in international relations. This is highly
unusual, and the life of TY should be doubly celebrated. To help start the ball
rolling, I could write a book on him and his family if someone would finance
the interviews & research. Note: As a full-blooded Ilocano, I don’t need a
translator.
Mr
Mascariñas says that Raul has decided to share Chooks-To-Go’s gift chickens
with the poor folks of the town of Piddig. “This is their way of sharing their
blessings to the community that embraced Teófilo Yldefonso as (its) own.”
That is the 3rd Yldefonso heroism, which
Chooks-To-Go has duly encouraged: “You share your blessings with others!”@517
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